The centre celebrated the occasion with a gala dinner for nearly 500 people on Friday June 6, the same date the venue officially opened 30 years ago.
Since then, BCEC has hosted 26,082 events with 21.6 million attendees for 7,000 clients, delivered an economic impact of $6.26 billion for Queensland and employed 10,176 full time staff.
Over the years, BCEC has hosted many world leaders and famous figures, including former US President Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama, the Queen, Prince William, Richard Branson, Jane Fonda, Ray Charles and Ringo Starr.
BCEC hosted the G20 Summit in 2014, arguably its most significant global event, and it should have hosted the CHOGM Summit in October 2001, but the event was postponed less than 10 days out due to the September 11 attacks in the USA.
What’s rather remarkable about the venue and its parent company ASM Global is the consistency.
BCEC’s two leaders – its opening general manager and now CEO, Bob O’Keeffe, and its current GM, Kym Guesdon – have both been with the venue since its preopening period. At the gala dinner, more than half of the 17 attendees present who worked for BCEC when it opened still work for ASM Global. And the venue has an exclusive group of 10 clients who have hosted at event at the centre every year of its 30 years in business.
“It’s a really quite rare and incredible thing to have a senior team with such longevity and consistency and a team that quite clearly you can tell is like a family,” said Brisbane’s Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner, at the gala dinner.
“It’s a sign of the culture here. And that is something that everyone involved in that team should be incredibly proud of.”
Guesdon also paid ultimate tribute to the BCEC staff.
“There’s no doubt that BCEC’s success belongs to the team,” she said.
“Bob and I are just lucky enough to stand up here and accept the accolades and praise on behalf of them.”
Perhaps the most significant nod to the centre’s impact came from Schrinner who called BCEC “the front door to our city”.
“For so many people this is the reason that they come to Brisbane. Whether they’re coming from interstate or internationally, they’re coming for an event here.
“This has been a critical part of Brisbane’s story for 30 years, it will be a critical part of Brisbane’s story for the future.
“So many relationships and networks have formed out of this building.
“Those connections don’t just branch out across Australia, they branch out across the world.”
